Action to prevent tragedies

Keith Wilson: training means staff can be confident vulnerable people will receive help when they need it. Photograph: guardian.co.uk

When tenants appeared at risk of suicide at one of Edinburgh's high-rise social housing blocks, staff on the estates often felt ill-equipped to cope. A concierge or housing manager might end up calling the police because they had no contact details for a tenant's next of kin or for other agencies that might be able to help.

But now the City of Edinburgh council has trained more than 200 of its frontline staff to spot the signs of somebody who might be at risk of suicide. The authority has also set up a multi-agency mental health awareness group with members from the police, social services and the NHS. The Scottish government's Choose Life campaign – a national initiative intended to reduce the number of suicides across Scotland by 20% by 2013 – is also represented.

For the staff on the estates there is now a list – including personal information such as GP contact details and next of kin – of high-rise tenants who have revealed they have mental health problems and might need extra support. Information leaflets about Samaritans and the Breathing Space 24-hour phone line for people who suffer from depression or other mental health issues have been distributed to all the council's high-rise blocks.

Housing manager Keith Wilson, who was one of the first employees to take the half-day Safe Talk and Applied Suicide Intervention training course, says: "I can't really find the words to describe the difference the training has made. The staff are more confident because they know that if they learn something it will be acted upon and will help the person who has the problem."

The suicide prevention initiative was launched two years ago after the Edinburgh Tenants Federation raised the issue with council landlords. While there are no official figures for the number of suicides committed by the 3,573 tenants who live in Edinburgh's multi-storey blocks, the federation knows of at least three that have occurred in recent years. And, according to the federation's convenor Betty Stevenson, who was instrumental in helping to set up the project, at least four potential suicides have been prevented since staff received the specialist training.

Stevenson, who has been a high-rise tenant for more than 21 years, says: "People have mental health problems before they move here but nobody recognised that, that was where the fault lied. But after the training, staff now know how to make a judgment and how to talk to somebody who has mental health problems."

Emma McEwan, council business manager for housing property services, says so far the training has focused on concierge staff, block managers and neighbourhood housing officers, but is now being expanded to include building repair staff who have daily contact with tenants. She says: "Because multi-storey blocks have so many floors it can be quite isolated and lonely so I think there is a higher risk if you already have a potential risk of suicide. The training has been beneficial because it's given staff the confidence to speak about mental health issues and potential suicide and to raise awareness about mental health in general."

Mike McCrossan, senior officer for services for communities, says the vulnerable tenants' list has details of around 200 high-rise residents, those who have voluntarily asked for their names to be added, but also others whom staff have "unofficially" identified as needing extra support. He says: "The intervention of concierge staff has enabled some residents to receive prompt medical attention on a number of occasions and has resulted in several lives being saved."

WINNER: City of Edinburgh council for setting up a mental health awareness group and providing staff with Safe Talk and Applied Suicide Intervention skills courses so they can support vulnerable tenants and respond to tragic accidents

RUNNER-UP:

NHS Blood and Transplant for increasing donor numbers by 15% through the design and delivery of a professional development programme for hospital donation champions

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